Recruiters’ Secrets Revealed: Part 1

It is rare that you get nine company and external recruiters in one room to ask questions and find out the secrets of their magic recruiting fairy dust. That’s right, each one of the recruiters on the panel have their own way of recruiting job candidates. In the next two posts you’ll learn just how different their approaches are – which may help calm your fears that the recruiter is working against you.

The session was sparked by Abby Kohut’s tour through Rochester, NY last year when she shared her recruiting secrets over several open forums (start reading recaps of her talks here). Her events were such a success that Eric Derby, Software Scout approached a number of area recruiters and enlisted the help from the Rochester Employment Network and Carol Larsen to put on this free event.

Carol began with introductions of the panel asking each of them to share their personal tip to help job hunters. The panel consisted of:

Betty Petro, Director of Talent Acquisition, Rochester General Health System – Do your research about a company before you have a meeting.

Barb Antczak, Recruiting Manager, Rochester General Health System – Reads every cover letter – but keep your introduction brief. Tell her why you have an interest in the position and why your experience is relevant.

Karen D’Angelo, Human Resources Generalist, Catalyst – Looks for resumes that light her fire. She likes to see bullets and she wants you to answer the question, “So what?”

Pauline Wilcox, Chief Talent Officer, Catalyst – You’ll get her attention with a firm and confident handshake. If your handshake is wimpy…you might as well end the interview.

Eric Derby, CEO and Recruiting Consultant, Software Scout – Eric admits he doesn’t pay much attention to cover letters. He wants your resume to communicate who you are and what you want in your next position. If you don’t express it clearly, he won’t go hunting for it.

Gary Baker, President/CEO, Cochran, Cochran & Yale – If you are prepared, on time, professionally dressed, know about the company you are interviewing for and answer behavioral questions well you have a chance of getting past Gary’s screening.

John Morgan, Technical Staffing Supervisor, Superior Group – Double check that the cover letter and resume you are sending match the job and is addressed to the recruiter you send it to.

Erin VanDamme, Technical Recruiting Manager, Nesco Resource – Don’t be afraid to share your salary preferences with an agency recruiter so that they can help match you with the proper job level.

While these tips may seem specific to each recruiter, think about how you can improve your success rate by adopting some of their suggestions.

It is time for the packed audience to ask their questions – and there is no surprise that some of our recruiters think and do things differently in the recruiting process. In our next post, I will recap the questions and answers that are on every job seeker’s mind.

Lynn Dessert is an ICF trained certified NLP Coach specializing in Executive Career coaching based in Charlotte NC. She works with individuals and organizations to maximize personal effectiveness skills—a cornerstone to career advancement.
Lynn is the author of What To Do After Being Fired and The Secerts to Successful Job On-Boarding.
Start your discovery process by contacting her at 704.512.2852 today.